Litterbugs

"We were following a black Mercedes 5500 on Wyandotte Hill going toward Bethlehem for Musikfest on Friday, Aug. 11. Guy and a girl in the car. Guy was driving kind of jerky, kept stopping and starting, and we noticed he was drinking something out of a big cup.

"Then he tosses the cup out the window! This always outrages me, so I thought I'd write down his license number: (Pennsylvania plate)."

She told me to do what I wanted with this information.

Every so often, I get on an anti-litter kick and start urging readers to join me as anti-litter vigilantes. Most recently, I was pushing them to report the people who toss their cigarettes out their car windows, presumably because the slobs don't think this really constitutes littering.

It does, and it's disgusting. Walk along a highway -- or even a city street -- and really pay attention to what's on the ground. More than likely, you'll find cigarette butts everywhere.

As a citizen, you don't have a lot of options for payback. I once published the license number of a litterer, something I won't do here today -- even though the reader did give me the license number -- because I didn't witness it myself. In any event, the average person doesn't have a column to publicly embarrass idiots.

Still, I've met people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to address this scourge.

I attended a hearing years ago sparked by an Allentown resident who chased down a litterer after the guy threw a soda cup out the window of his car. The resident tried to prosecute the litterer under a tough new city ordinance that called for fines of up to $600. The district judge found the slob guilty, but only slapped him on the wrist with court costs of $28.50.

I've written several times about Keith Helfrich of Allentown, a "sign shark" who cruised the streets in search of the illegal advertising litter known as street spam. Using tools and a stepladder, he did battle with the fly-by-night advertisers whose signs can be found on utility poles or stuck in the ground at busy intersections.

I've also talked to people who confronted litterers at red lights or stop signs, potentially a dangerous business these days.

Still, you don't have to take your life in your hands to do something about litter. I advised this reader to call 1-888-LITTERBUG (actually, LITTERB will do it, but the extra UG doesn't hurt, and it's easier to remember) and report the cup-thrower to the state Highway Litter Hotline. She did it, as many other local people have over the years.

Here's what they'll ask you for:

-- License plate number-- Date/Time-- Style/Make of Car-- Road/Direction of Travel-- County-- Type of Litter-- Sex/Age of Driver-- How they heard about the Hotline

The Web site litterbug.org explains, "Callers also need to provide their name, address and telephone number. This information is kept confidential and is only used for verification purposes. After the incident is reported to the Litterbug Hotline, the license plate numbers are provided to PennDOT, who then sends the drivers a letter explaining the inherent problems associated with littering."

It's not as good as a $600 fine. But at least it will let the slobs know that when they're fouling the landscape, someone is watching -- and there could be consequences.

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First of all, I was not driving "jerky," but my female passenger was all over me. When she whispered something in my ear, I instinctively shuddered, and the cup went flying. But my window was up. Sorry.

It's nice to think that someday everyone will observe a no-littering sign. But it won't matter how many signs/laws/state commissions there are; some people (a lot, actually) will never think it applies to them. Same goes for people who park in fire lanes because they are too important to walk across a parking lot.

Posted By: Gwen | Aug 14, 2006 6:56:55 PM

Perhaps we should call Homeland security to handle this problem!
Seriously, there are far too many stupid people who don't respect their own community, or anyone else's. No amount of laws or law enforcement will stop it. You can't legislate civility or manners, as much as we would like.
Bernie, you should no better, I thought that Electro-shock therapy you got over the weekend would cure that!